2019

State of General Aviation

 • General aviation [GA] is all civilian flying except scheduled
passenger airline service.
• An estimated 65% of general aviation flights are conducted
for business and public services that need transportation
more flexible than the airlines can offer.
• More than 90% of the roughly 220,000 civil aircraft registered
in the United States are general aviation aircraft.
Introduction to • More than 80% of the 609,000 pilots certificated in the U.S.
General fly GA aircraft.
• *General Aviation generates more than $150 billion in
Aviation economic activity annually and creates 7.6M jobs.
• *Nationally, civil aviation contributed 5.1% of the GDP, but at
the state level, the value of contribution to a state’s GDP
ranges from a high of 19 percent (Hawaii) to a low of 0.5
percent (Delaware).

*Economic Impacts from the 2017 Report from the FAA on the Economic Impacts of Civil Aviation by State, Calendar Year 2014. FAA State economic impact analysis conducted
using the RIMS 2 Macroeconomic modeling tool.
 General Aviation [GA] activity increased in 2017; the number of aircraft handled by ATC
was up nearly 2%, the number of hours flown was up more than 2%, and number of
tower operations increased by 1%.

GA generates $39B in direct economic output and 7.6M jobs according to the latest FAA
analysis

Student, Private, and Commercial certificate issuances were up about 4% in 2017, but
ATP certificate issuances were down 53% to 4,449

Executive CFI rating issuances increased more than 5%

Summary
Instrument rating issuances were up 5%

GA shipments (aircraft) were up 2.5% in 2017

GA fatal accidents were down 14.5% in 2017

 General Aviation Summary Data
Flight Activity 2017 2016 2015
Centers-Aircraft Handled (GA Aircraft) 7,451,713 7,334,296 7,106,001
Tower Operations 53,775,486 53,297,836 53,040,452
Gallons AV Gas Sold 209M 206M 196M
Pilot Certification 2017 2016 2015
Student Issuances 38,401 36,712 49,062
Private Issuances 17,752 17,082 16,473
Commercial Issuances 10,506 10,191 9,211
ATP Issuances 4,449 9,520 6,544
CFI Rating Issuances 5,310 5,043 4,544
Instrument Rating Issuances 11,443 11,020 10,103
Aircraft 2017 2016 2015
GA Shipments - includes piston, turbo prop, and business jets 2,324 2,268 2,331
Active GA Aircraft 213,050 211,794 210,031
GA Aircraft AVGAS Consumption (Millions of Gallons) 209 206 196
GA Aircraft Jet Fuel Consumption (In Millions of Gallons) 1,535 1,437 1,383
GA and Air Taxi Hours Flown (In Thousands) 25,369 24,834 24,142
Aviation Safety 2017 2016 2015
GA (Fatal) Accidents 330 386 378
 160,000
Active Aircraft 2010 to 2017
140,000

120,000
Number of Aircraft

100,000

80,000

60,000

40,000

20,000

0
SINGLE ENGINE MULTI- ENGINE TURBO PROP TURBO JET Rotorcraft TOTAL EXPERIMENTAL** LIGHT SPORT AIRCRAFT**
2010 139,519 15,900 9,369 11,484 10,102 24,784 6,528
2011E 136,895 15,702 9,523 11,650 10,082 24,275 6,645
2012 128,847 14,313 10,304 11,793 10,055 26,715 2,001
2013 124,398 13,257 9,619 11,637 9,765 24,918 2,056
2014 126,036 13,146 9,777 12,362 9,966 26,191 2,231
2015 127,887 13,254 9,712 13,440 10,506 27,922 2,369
2016 129,652 12,986 9,779 13,751 10,577 27,585 2,478
2017E 130,330 12,935 9,430 14,075 10,805 27,865 2,585

* Source: 2001-2010, 2012-2016, FAA General Aviation and Air Taxi Activity (and Avionics) Surveys.
**Experimental Light-sport category that was previously shown under Sport Aircraft is moved under Experimental Aircraft category, starting in 2012.
Note: An active aircraft is one that has a current registration and was flown at least one hour during the calendar year.
 Rhode Island
Hawaii
District of Columbia
Aircraft Based by State
Delaware
Vermont
West Virginia
New Hampshire
Connecticut
Maine
Wyoming
South Dakota
Kentucky
Mississippi
New Mexico
South Carolina
North Dakota
Massachusetts
Nebraska
Utah
Maryland
Nevada
New Jersey
Montana
Louisiana
Arkansas
Alabama
Iowa
Virginia
Idaho
Kansas
Tennessee
Indiana
Oklahoma
Missouri
Pennsylvania
New York
North Carolina
Oregon
Goergia
Minnesota
Colorado
Wisconsin
Michigan
Illinois
Arizona
Ohio
Alaska
Washington
Florida
Texas
California

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000

SingleEngineGA MultiEngineGA JetEngineGA HelicoptersGA GlidersOperational MilitaryOperational Ultralights
Source: FAA Airports Dataset
 Jet Piston Turbo Prop

Total 1,588,262 1,412,315

1,429,311

Operations
1,386,528 1,396,256
1,328,375

(Takeoffs and
1,290,027
1,239,024

1,247,549
1,232,347

Landings)
3,961,546
3,605,868 3,313,773
3,694,212 3,677,635
3,546,734

2,891,362

Trending 2,706,196
2,084,578
2,101,019

Down 2000 to
2018 2,878,030 2,802,065
3,037,939 3,124,604 3,038,529
2,719,671 2,536,030 2,570,244 2,610,457 2,480,627

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Source: FAA TFMSC data 2000-2018

 General Aviation and Air Taxi Hours Flown
(In Thousands)
26,000
197
311 278 187 1,248
169 191 1,224
1,226 1,203 1,243
165 1,295
173 1,244
1,191 3,237
3,405 3,128
21,000 3,411 3,454 3,294
2,949 3,242

3,375 3,847 4,274

3,407 3,418 3,837
3,488 3,881
16,000
2,325 2,463 2,708 2,674
2,733
2,538
2,587 2,613
1,818 1,782 1,683 1,666
1,766 1,608
1,646 1,573
11,000

6,000 12,161 11,844 11,441 11,865 11,878

10,706 11,217
10,395

1,000

2010 2011E 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017E

-4,000

SINGLE ENGINE MULTI- ENGINE TURBO PROP TURBO JET TOTAL EXPERI- MENTAL** LIGHT SPORT AIRCRAFT**
* Source: 2001-2010, 2012-2016, FAA General Aviation and Air Taxi Activity (and Avionics) Surveys.
**Experimental Light-sport category that was previously shown under Sport Aircraft is moved under Experimental Aircraft category, starting in 2012.
Note: An active aircraft is one that has a current registration and was flown at least one hour during the calendar year.
 General Aviation Annual Fuel Consumption
(in millions of gallons)
1,800

1,600

1,400

1,200

1,000

800

600

400

200

0
2010 2011E 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017E

SINGLE ENGINE MULTI- ENGINE TURBO PROP TURBO JET

Total AVGAS Consumed by GA in 2017 = 209M gallons Total Jet Fuel Consumed by GA in 2017 = 1.8B gallons
Source: FAA historical data tables 28-31
 Operations Total GA (Local
Commercial Operations Air Operations GA Operations GA Operations + Itinerant)
Airport Name Location ID (Air Carrier) Taxi Local Itinerant Military Ops

VAN NUYS VNY 0 16,408 155,420 332,117 557 487,537

PHOENIX DEER
VALLEY DVT 12 4,670 130,886 243,075 134 373,961

CENTENNIAL APA 0 28,361 153,744 133,098 6,366 286,842

ERNEST A LOVE

Top 10 Busiest
FIELD PRC 10 3,017 177,233 85,290 648 262,523

LONG BEACH

GA Airports /DAUGHERTY
FIELD/ LGB 34,962 6,708 151,912 101,734 860 253,646

PORTLAND-
HILLSBORO HIO 0 9,561 160,261 83,381 644 243,642

PHOENIX-MESA
GATEWAY IWA 11,503 38,200 166,519 66,727 7,503 233,246

FALCON FLD FFZ 9 67,638 175,051 53,307 4,196 228,358

GRAND FORKS
INTL GFK 1,029 105,715 212,325 12,634 182 224,959

GILLESPIE FIELD SEE 0 345 140,189 68,061 101 208,250

Source: FAA OPSNet Data
 0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Texas
Alaska
California
Florida
Illinois
Ohio
Wisconsin
Pennsylvania
Indiana

Source: FAA Airport Data and Contact Information

Missouri
New York
Washington
Michigan
North Carolina
Oklahoma
Kansas
Goergia
Oregon
Minnesota
Virginia

* Does not include seaplane bases or heliports – total of all facilities 19,346
Colorado
North Dakota
Montana
Louisiana
Public Use Idaho
Arkansas
Tennessee
Nebraska
Iowa
Mississippi
Private Use

Arizona
Alabama
Kentucky
Maryland
South Dakota
South Carolina
New Mexico
Maine
Nevada
*Total Public Use Airports = 4,785

New Jersey
*Total Private Use Airports = 8,266

Wyoming
Utah
West Virginia
Massachusetts
Vermont
New Hampshire
Connecticut
Hawaii
Public Use and Private Use Airports by State

Delaware
Rhode Island
District of Columbia
 Control Towers
718 Towered Locations in the U.S.
• 708 Airports with Towers
• 9 Heliports with Towers
• 1 Seaplane Base with a Tower
• 7 Privately Owned Locations with Towers
• 550 Publicly Owned (not Military) Locations with
Towers
• 161 Military/Government Locations with Towers

Source: FAA Airport Data and Contact Information

 Piston Turbo Prop Business Jet

1129

GA Aircraft 1056
1019
1085

Shipments by 889 898 908

933

Year 763
722 718
696
672 678 667 676
645

Source: General 526

584
603
557
582
563

Aviation
Manufacturers 368

Association

CY2010 CY2011 CY2012 CY2013 CY2014 CY2015 CY2016 CY2017

 Original Airmen Certificates Issued Each Year
by Category 2008 to 2017
100,000
90,000
80,000
70,000
Certificates Issued

60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
CY 2013 CY 2014 CY 2015 CY 2016 CY 2017
Pilot--Total 85,353 89,022 84,905 76,978 74,130
Student 49,566 49,261 49,062 36,712 38,401
Private 15,776 17,795 16,473 17,082 17,752
Commercial 8,140 9,803 9,211 10,191 10,506
Airline Transport 8,346 7,749 6,544 9,520 4,449
Rotorcraft (only) 2,888 3,754 2,999 2,759 2,552

Source: FAA Airman Statistics

 Estimated Active Airmen by Certificate 2008 to 2017
Private Commercial Airline Transport Rotorcraft (only) 3/ Glider (only ) 4,5/

21,055
21,268 14,647
21,275 15,298
20,802 21,141 15,377
19,927 20,381 15,126 15,220
18,139 19,460 15,114
17,991 15,566 15,511
15,355 15,518 146,838
144,600
142,198
145,590 142,511
152,933 149,824
159,825 154,730
157,894

124,746
125,738
120,865 123,705
116,400
104,322 108,206
98,161 101,164
96,081

211,619 222,596
188,001 194,441 202,020
162,455 162,313 170,718 174,883 180,214

CY 2017 CY 2016 CY 2015 CY 2014 CY 2013 CY 2012 CY 2011 CY 2010 CY 2009 CY 2008

Source: FAA Airman Statistics

 400,000

350,000

Pilots by 300,000

Geographic 250,000

Region and

Pilot Count
200,000

Certificate 150,000

100,000

50,000

FAA REGIONS
Alaskan Region- Alaska 0
Northwest Western-
Central Region-IA, KS, KY, MO, NE, TN Alaskan Central Eastern Great Lakes Southern Southwest
Mountain Pacific
Region-- Region-- Region-- Region-- Region-- Region--
Region-- Region--
Eastern Region-CT, DE, DC, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, PA, RI, VT, VA, WV Total Total Total Total Total Total
Total Total
Great Lakes Region-IL, IN, MI, MN, ND, OH, SD, WI Remote Pilots 540 5,510 14,677 10,486 7,884 9,827 9,195 10,435
Northwest Mountain Region-CO, ID, MT, OR, UT, WA, WY Airline Transport 2,242 11,478 27,137 21,554 19,168 30,378 22,596 22,619
Southern Region-AL, FL, GA, PR, SC, Virgin Islands Commercial 1,563 7,113 16,632 13,618 12,006 163,546 14,190 16,878
Southwest Region-AR, LA, MS, NM, OK, TX Private 2,588 13,713 30,869 27,408 19,628 22,503 20,022 27,841
Western-Pacific Region-AZ, CA, NV, HI, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Students 1,546 10,114 25,781 19,035 15,231 22,913 19,860 22,380
American Samoa Total Pilots 7,998 42,983 101,508 83,060 66,705 94,086 79,378 90,468

Source: FAA Airman Statistics

 Jobs Created by General Aviation in Each State
1,200,000

1,000,000

800,000

600,000

400,000

200,000

Source: U.S. DOT , The Economic Impact of Civil Aviation on the U.S. Economy 2017
 Alabama

1.8%
Alaska

5.3%
Arizona

7.9%
Arkansas

2.4%
California

4.2%
Colorado

5.3%
Connecticut

4.4%
Delaware

0.5%
District of Columbia

3.7%
Florida

7.0%
Goergia

5.4%
Hawaii
19.0%

Idaho

2.5%
Illinois

4.0%
Indiana

2.0%
Iowa

1.0%
Kansas
6.0%

Kentucky 3.2%

Louisiana
2.3%

Source: U.S. DOT , The Economic Impact of Civil Aviation on the U.S. Economy 2017
Maine
3.0%

Maryland
2.3%

Massachusetts
3.1%

Michigan
2.5%

Minnesota
3.2%

Mississippi
1.8%

Missouri
Montana
3.6%3.3%

Nebraska
2.4%

Nevada
12.9%

New Hampshire
1.8%

New Jersey
2.6%

New Mexico
2.1%

New York
3.9%

North Carolina
3.5%

North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
2.0%2.3%1.9%

Oregon
3.4%

Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
2.6%2.6%

South Carolina
2.2%

South Dakota
1.5%

Tennessee
Texas
3.6%3.7%

Utah
5.4%

Vermont
Virginia
2.2%2.1%

Washington
8.1%

West Virginia
1.0%
General Aviation’s Contribution to State GDP

Wisconsin
Wyoming
1.6%1.4%